This was one of the final Represent Converse events at the legendary 100 club on Oxford Street. Not knowing any of the other bands other than the headliner, when I saw the queue outside, this was going to be interesting.

The Wet Nuns took to the stage, a two piece; we were greeted with bastardised punk/Lemmy impressionism that quickly and surprisingly went into pure stoner mode, with a real out of place country and western cowboy shirt. They played trademark Baroness/Clutch riffs but lacked an ability to execute them with a criminal lack of a bass guitar, perhaps excitement over flowed talent in this case. Being new to this band I can appreciate what they are doing, on the whole, The Wet Nuns are certainly worth checking out, but I have to say that when the crowd chants your name, don’t be so arrogant and ungrateful.

Next up were The Safety Fire and from the opening notes they were a real assault on my ears. Playing telecasters at chest height, their screaming tirades do nothing but increase my level of frustration, it’s like metal for students who don’t actually like metal, very trendy, very modern, metalcore-ish, and basically not my thing at all. They don’t really have a large following either looking at the crowd, unless it’s too cool to sweat. If this is the future, get me a time machine. The only entertaining aspect of the show was at the end of their set when the singer threw his microphone to the floor and left the stage in a tantrum, come on, what was that all about?

Pulled Apart By Horses are pleasing to music TV, they are of the generation that cuts the move for image, but musically, I don’t feel any emotion to it at all, but there is a distinct improvement over the previous band, they have ideas and melody, a key component to any style of music. The show is energetic and the crowd are swelling as each minute passes with appreciation. In truth, I am eagerly awaiting the headliners, plus Pulled Apart By Horses are not totally in tune with Ave Noctum readers, nor myself.

Anticipating the headliners threw up some stereotypical gig going apathy, most of the crowd buggered off home rather than waiting around to see a few seconds even of the headliners who were undoubtedly the most experienced band on the bill. But one thing I have to say is that the level of friendship between a clear different mix of fans was inspiring. Many times I have seen different bills with bands/fans of different genres that clearly do not work, tonight, everyone was in a cool mood and there was a genuine level of respect for each in their own camp. This is the way it should be.

Overkill have further matured their legendary status  with their last two albums, the fire still burns, so much is my level of excitement, I venture to the front. As I realised the next morning, I’m not as agile or as fit as I used to be! Ouch! But tonight, Overkill deliver thrash metal with real balls, a cool sound and a performance second to none, I wouldn’t have expected any less to be fair. Overkill have never but on a poor live show, even when I saw them in 2002 in Dudley with about 30 people there, they played as if there were 30,000 there. Tonight is a short one hour set filled with new tracks ‘Electric Rattlesnake’ and ‘Come & Get It’, these really suit their live show and give a welcomed taster for their future return appearance later this year in London. Throughout the remainder of the set I am battered and bruised both physically and audibly to the many classics…such as ’Elimination’, Wrecking Crew’, ‘Hello From The Gutter’, ‘Rotten to the Core’, notable crowd sing along ‘In Union We Stand’ and ‘Old School’. Once theNew Jersey crew have blown our minds with such energetic numbers, the band say ‘Fuck You’ and end a triumphant set as the true professionals that they are. I have to say this is one of the most enjoyable gigs I have attended, and this was certainly my favourite Overkill show in a good few years even if general view was obscured by an annoying placed building support pillar and it was bloody hot!

I thought the prospect of such a mix of bands in a small club would be carnage, but credit where credit is due, everything ran effortlessly on time, 100 Club security and staff were friendly and very professional, the sound was perfect with no notable technical difficulties, even for those bands I did not like, but the night belonged to Overkill, there was never any doubt even prior to the show. This was an interesting event on paper that was always going to split the crowd and it proved so in practice, but what a cool idea, it’s certainly not to be sniffed at if the opportunity arises again.

Paul Maddison